Tuesday, January 15, 2013

I commend "Café" as a morally and theologically interesting film

I lucked into a theologically interesting film. "Café" is a small independent movie, though the recognizable Jennifer Love Hewitt is one of the leads. It is set in a small independent coffee house in West Philadelphia. I found it when I was looking for films to use in my "Cafés and Public Life" class.

What "Café" is really about, though, is the idea that this reality might just be virtual, a simulated reality set up by a programmer. I am not very interested in that idea. But the film uses it to run a parallel conversation about how our free will is consonant with God's foreknowledge. I thought they handled this tricky idea well.

Moreover, the several running stories of the regulars in the coffee house all lead them toward potential evil choices. Most of the characters use their free will well. I will not spoil it by saying more.

The ending will not be satisfying to all. I thought it was too pat, though intelligible.